June 28, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 27,1424

KARACHI, June 27: The KSE 100-share index closed the week slightly above the 3,400 point level after having shown highly erratic movements, but analysts are still divided over its journey beyond it as both bulls and bears are locked in a grim battle to tilt the balance in their respective favours.

A massive volume of 153m shares in Hub-Power, however, seems to have put the bulls in a commanding position as the weekend rally has the chances to extend itself provided the follow-up support figures prominently.

On the negative side, which could halt the market’s upward drive, was setting in of profit-selling in the cement and auto shares, which have in the recent past assumed the role of trend-setters and needed correction at the highly inflated levels not backed by the objective conditions expecting the perceptions of higher sales.

Earlier, the market’s uneven movements were also evident in the KSE index, which hit the session’s high and low at 3,413 and 3,381, respectively, signalling that bears are not in a mood to allow it to resume its journey beyond the 3,400 point at least for the time being.

For the second time during the week it crossed the barrier of 3,400 points, but failed to sustain this level owing to bear onslaught on the leading base shares.

But a modest rise of 3.47 points at the weekend session allowed it finish at 3,400.08, telling that its future direction is still unclear and will essentially depend on the mood of financial institutions.

However, the month of June will go into the KSE history as one of the momentous years as all previous records both in terms of index level and the market capitalization were bettered at 3,423 and Rs756 billion, respectively.

“Most of the leading world fund managers have indicated to enter the Pakistani bourse if its market captitalization is somewhere around $20 billion, which ensures a needed depth for foreign fund investment,” claims a KSE official.

After having already touched the all-time high mark of $15 billion, the market capitalization is heading to the new target, and if all goes well with the investor’s perceptions the current fiscal is expected to turn out this figure during the next couple of months.

After several lean sessions, Hub-Power was massively traded and in a way allowed the market to maintain a steady posture at the weekend session, which generally attract profit-selling from all and sundry for obvious reasons. Its stock was trading on the lower side of the market thinking and needed a modest boost, and that came in the form of brisk short-covering.

Although minus signs again held at modest lead over the plus ones, leading shares maintained their upward drive under the lead of EFU General, EFU Life, Javed Omer, Dewan Khalid Textiles, Sapphire Fibre, Pakistan Oilfields and Nestle MilkPak after the announcement of final dividend at the rate of 60 per cent, Shell Pakistan and Fazal Textiles, which posted gains ranging from Rs4 to Rs8.

Losers were led by Wyeth Pakistan, off Rs50 followed by Engro Chemical, Pak-Suzuki Motors, Indus Motors, Atlas Honda, Mari Gas, Umer Fabrics, Crescent Steel and Colgate Pakistan, off Rs2 to Rs4.85.

Trading volume fell to 482m shares from the previous 543m shares as losers maintained a fair lead over the gainers at 185 to 169, with 53 shares holding on to the last levels.

The most active list was topped by Hub-Power, higher 75 paisa at Rs38.20 on 153m shares, followed by D.G. Khan Cement, off one rupee at Rs29.25 on 47m shares, Bosicor Pakistan, up 65 paisa at Rs21.75 on 33m shares, PTCL, firm by 10 paisa at Rs28.60 on 31m shares and FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, higher by 20 paisa at Rs13.70 on 28m shares.

Other actives included KESC, higher 35 paisa on 25m shares, Pakistan Oilfields up Rs4.30 on 16m shares, Engro Chemical, off Rs2.75 on 14m shares. PSO, lower 75 paisa on 13m shares and Lucky Cement, off one rupee on 12m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Mixed trend was witnessed in the cleared list where Hub-Power managed to finish higher by 85 paisa at Rs38.10 on 10m shares partly because of massive buying in its counterpart in the ready section, while PTCL fell five paisa at Rs28.50 on 5m shares and so did PSO, off 75 paisa at Rs229 on 3m shares.

FFC-Jordan was marked up by 13 paisa at Rs13.60 on 3m shares, while Sui Northern Gas, fell by 59 paisa at Rs33.42 on 2m shares.

The notable feature was that matured June settlements were rung off the board and the July contracts will assume the role of ruling delivery by next Monday.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Activity was relatively slow on this counter owing perhaps to weekend considerations. Suzuki Motorcycles led the list of actives, off 50 paisa at Rs12 on 42,500 shares followed by Schon Modaraba, up 15 paisa at Rs1.20 on 27,000 shares and Medi Glass, lower 10 paisa at Rs3.35 on 17,000 shares. Others were modestly traded.